~ Tips &Techniques for Writing Poems ~
A Preface
"A drink I took of the magic mead,
taken from Odhroerir.
Then I began to know and be wise,
To grow and to weave poems." - Havamal
Writing
poetry, like all arts and indeed many things in life, can be said to consist of
10 % inspiration and 90 % perspiration.
That means you can learn it, and it gets better with
practice and experience !
Nobody
is born a skydiver, and noone is born a poet. While there may be people that
"have a knack" for it and intuitively grasp
the "language
tools" that great poems employ, most of us can learn to use these tools
too by
1) reading the theory 2) looking at other poems and 3) doing it, and
practicing.
Real poetry is a process of transformation and communication
with other human beings.
It starts with your very own feelings,
visions and images - these are emotional, primarily nonverbal
things in your brain.
Next, you form thoughts *in words* about these visions.
Then you transfer your words into written (and spoken) language, that will
hopefully evoke the same
feelings and images in those who read it.
Sound technical? You do
need fire and passion, ideas and inspiration. But you´ve also got to know how to
best
put them into form - it is like casting. The finer the mold, the better the
piece.
Take
your time. The music piece that moves you to tears wasn´t born in a minute -
it´s core tune may have popped up
under the shower, but the rest was careful
composing, and long rehearsing by the performers. We are used to live fast
and
want quick results. With the arts, this is counterproductive. Anything you deem
worth saying at all, is worth saying well;
and the
more so if it is to honour the Gods.